May anyone presumably be silly sufficient to consider the road that wind and photo voltaic turbines can present dependable electrical energy to shoppers that’s cheaper than electrical energy generated by fossil fuels? It takes hardly any thought concerning the matter to understand that wind and photo voltaic don’t work when it’s calm and darkish, because it typically is, and significantly so within the winter, when additionally it is usually chilly. Thus a wind/photo voltaic electrical energy system wants full backup, or alternatively storage — issues that add to and multiply prices. Certainly, our political leaders and high power gurus are absolutely conscious of this stuff, and wouldn’t attempt to mislead the general public about the price of electrical energy from a predominantly wind/photo voltaic system.
For those who suppose that, you will need to have missed the State of the Union Handle yesterday. Neither is Presdident Biden alone in peddling the preposterous fantasy of low-cost electrical energy from the wind and solar The web is full of seemingly authoritative voices asserting with full confidence that wind and photo voltaic turbines are the reply to offering shoppers with cheaper electrical energy.
No quantity of pointing to the failed experiments of locations like Germany, the UK and California appears to get any traction. We have to demand a working demonstration undertaking of a totally wind/photo voltaic system in order that the total prices could be proven for all to see.
So there was President Biden final night time speaking about his nice inexperienced power plans.
Look, the Inflation Discount Act can be essentially the most vital funding ever to sort out the local weather disaster. Reducing utility payments, creating American jobs, and main the world to a clear power future.
It’s so spectacularly opposite to actuality that it doesn’t almost do it justice to name it only a “lie.” In Germany and the UK, power transition fantasies have led to electrical energy payments thrice and extra the U.S. common, and persevering with to extend, and tens of millions of ratepayers thrown into power poverty. It doesn’t take a genius to determine why the prices explode. They will construct 1000’s of wind generators and photo voltaic panels, however they will’t do away with any of the dispatchable energy crops as a result of they’re all wanted for backup. So now they’re paying for 2 duplicative programs. Then they need to pay the dispatchable crops sufficient to cowl their capital prices at half time utilization. Then they need to purchase the fossil fuels for backup on spot markets the place manufacturing has been suppressed by, for instance, banning fracking.
However as I stated, it’s not simply President Biden who is just too dumb to determine this out. Think about Mark Z. Jacobson, Professor at Stanford and tireless promoter of his WWS (water, wind and photo voltaic) system because the “low price” method of the long run. No quantity of debunking of Jacobson’s fashions can maintain him from endlessly repeating the identical ridiculous claims. He bought one other shot simply yesterday within the Guardian, headline “We don’t want ‘miracle’ applied sciences to repair the local weather. We’ve got the instruments now”:
Wind, water and photo voltaic power is reasonable, efficient and inexperienced. We don’t want experimental or dangerous power sources to save lots of our planet.
Jacobson goes on with limitless mumbo jumbo about how his fantasy system can ship electrical energy at low price. Excerpt:
When mixed with electrical energy storage, warmth storage, chilly storage and hydrogen storage; methods to encourage folks to shift the time of their electrical energy use (demand response); a well-interconnected electrical transmission system; and nifty and environment friendly electrical home equipment, similar to warmth pumps, induction cooktops, electrical automobiles and electrical furnaces for trade, WWS can resolve the ginormous issues related to local weather change at low price worldwide.
Is there any such factor as an indication undertaking on any scale — small, medium, or giant — to vindicate these claims that such a future system could be “low price”? Completely not. I’d say that everyone with even half a mind is aware of that Jacobson is a charlatan. However then we’ve got our President, to not point out the complete federal paperwork backed by trillions of {dollars} of annual taxpayer largesse, shopping for into his nonsense.
No one could be happier than me to see an indication undertaking constructed that confirmed that wind and photo voltaic may present dependable electrical energy at low price. Sadly, I do know an excessive amount of concerning the topic to suppose that that’s possible, and even remotely doable.
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